Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have identified a regulator protein that plays a crucial role in kidney fibrosis, a condition that leads to kidney failure. Finding this regulator provides a new therapeutic target for the millions of Americans affected by kidney failure. The research is published in the March 11 issue of Nature Medicine. Led by John Cijiang He, MD, PhD, Professor of Nephrology and Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics; and Avi Ma'ayan, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the ...

MARSEILLES, FRANCE -- As food and energy production intensify around the world, their demands on dwindling water resources have prompted the search for an innovative and collaborative solution. On Friday, March 16, a High Level Panel convened by the EDF Group and the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF) will gather in Marseilles at the Sixth World Water Forum (WWF6) to share experiences and results. The panel will discuss how to embrace a "nexus" approach to water management, in which projects that tap water resources are planned and executed with input from ...

DURHAM, N.C. – A team of researchers at Duke University has determined the structure of a key molecule that can carry chemotherapy and anti-viral drugs into cells, which could help to create more effective drugs with fewer effects to healthy tissue. "Knowing the structure and properties of the transporter molecule may be the key to changing the way that some chemotherapies, for example, could work in the body to prevent tumor growth," said senior author Seok-Yong Lee, Ph.D., assistant professor of biochemistry at Duke. The article was published in Nature online on ...

A team of Australian scientists has bred salt tolerance into a variety of durum wheat that shows improved grain yield by 25% on salty soils. Using 'non-GM' crop breeding techniques, scientists from CSIRO Plant Industry have introduced a salt-tolerant gene into a commercial durum wheat, with spectacular results shown in field tests. Researchers at the University of Adelaide's Waite Research Institute have led the effort to understand how the gene delivers salinity tolerance to the plants. The research is the first of its kind in the world to fully describe the improvement ...

The Greenland ice sheet is likely to be more vulnerable to global warming than previously thought. The temperature threshold for melting the ice sheet completely is in the range of 0.8 to 3.2 degrees Celsius global warming, with a best estimate of 1.6 degrees above pre-industrial levels, shows a new study by scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Today, already 0.8 degrees global warming has been observed. Substantial melting of land ice could contribute to long-term sea-level rise of several meters ...

In a study released today in Nature Genetics, researchers have found that Chlamydia has evolved more actively than was previously thought. Using whole genome sequencing the researchers show that the exchange of DNA between different strains of Chlamydia to form new strains is much more common than expected. The team highlights that current clinical testing methods do not capture the variation between Chlamydia strains. Changes to the genome structure are not the aim of current diagnostics for Chlamydia. The researchers are working with hospitals to use their results ...

Hospitals in Arizona and across the country are burying their mistakes, according to a new study recently released by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General Daniel R. Levinson. The study found that 15,000 Medicare patients die every month in part due to inadequate treatment in hospitals. The types of medical malpractice detailed in the study are gruesome and include surgical fires, objects left inside patients after surgery and surgeries performed on the wrong patients. If your loved one has died due to hospital negligence, you need to speak with ...

Researchers from Queen Mary, University of London and the University of Surrey have found a protein inside blood vessels with an ability to protect the body from substances which cause cardiovascular disease. The findings, published online in the journal Cardiovascular Research, have revealed the protein protein pregnane X receptor (PXR) can switch on different protective pathways in the blood vessels. Co-author Dr David Bishop-Bailey, based at Queen Mary's William Harvey Research Institute, said they found the protein was able to sense a wide variety of drugs, foreign ...

NEW YORK, NY -- A study by Columbia researchers suggests that cells in the patient's intestine could be coaxed into making insulin, circumventing the need for a stem cell transplant. Until now, stem cell transplants have been seen by many researchers as the ideal way to replace cells lost in type I diabetes and to free patients from insulin injections. The research—conducted in mice—was published 11 March 2012 in the journal Nature Genetics. Type I diabetes is an autoimmune disease that destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. The pancreas cannot replace these ...

Medical professionals have long thought that traumatic brain injuries do not affect young children as significantly as they do adults. Two new studies, however, suggest otherwise. Young children suffering from severe traumatic brain injuries (TBI) may actually suffer continued impairment later in life than experts first thought. The studies yielded important new information on childhood traumatic brain injuries. Children who suffered severe traumatic brain injuries, for example, had slower intellectual functioning, showing that the traumatic brain injury may have affected ...

A retinoid called all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), which is a vitamin A-derivative, is already used successfully to treat a rare sub-type of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), however this drug has not been effective for the more common types of AMLs. Team leader Arthur Zelent, Ph.D., and colleagues at the ICR have been working to unlock the potential of retinoids to treat other patients with AML. In a paper published in Nature Medicine today, they show that the key could be an antidepressant called tranylcypromine (TCP). "Retinoids have already transformed one rare type ...

The newly renovated Comfort Inn & Conference Center Northeast in Atlanta, near Doraville, offers special rates to fans attending the 2012 NCAA South Regional Men's Basketball Tournament at the Georgia Dome in downtown Atlanta, GA. The Road to the Final Four , the NCAA South Regional (Division I) tournament will be held from March 23 - 25, 2012. Featuring the NCAA "Sweet 16 " and "Elite Eight " Rounds of the NCAA Tournament, this year's winner of the two-day event will be awarded a spot in the 2012 NCAA Final FOUR that will be held in New Orleans. Located ...

Sheraton Atlanta Perimeter Hotel North, located in Sandy Springs, GA near Atlanta Perimeter Center, announces a new special savings package. Travelers can enjoy luxury for less with this exclusive offer for members of the Starwood Preferred Guest program. Book weekend stays now through March 31, 2013 and enjoy: - Up to 35% off Best Available rates - Continental breakfast for two Reference rate plan SPG35B. Offer is subject to availability; some restrictions may apply. "Conveniently situated only 15 miles north of downtown Atlanta and near many of the areas points ...

Peritectic solidification involves the nucleation and growth of the primary phase, the peritectic reaction of the primary phase with the remnant liquid phase, and the microstructural evolution of the product peritectic phase. It provides an effective approach for the synthesis or processing of various kinds of advanced materials. Professor WEI Bingbo and his group from the Department of Applied Physics, Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU), in Xi'an, China, have demonstrated novel dual solidification mechanisms for a ternary Fe47.5Cu47.5Sn5 peritectic-type alloy. ...

Rodriguez MD, a leading Lawrenceville clinic and bilingual Lawrenceville family practice near Gwinnett Medical Center, is currently offering spring allergy testing and treatments. This includes treatments for inhalant allergies, reactions to foods, hay fever, chronic sinus problems, immune disorders, eczema, and hives. Rodriguez MD offers comprehensive evaluations; then they will provide diagnosis and sustainable treatment plans. This may include giving allergy shots. The spring season is a common time for people to experience increased reactions to allergies caused ...

A new analysis led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has found that circumcision before a male's first sexual intercourse may help protect against prostate cancer. Published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study suggests that circumcision can hinder infection and inflammation that may lead to this malignancy. Infections are known to cause cancer, and research suggests that sexually transmitted infections may contribute to the development of prostate cancer. Also, certain sexually transmitted infections ...

The number of children with conditions such as muscular dystrophy, neurodegenerative disorders or severe cerebral palsy who are surviving into adulthood has been underestimated, a new study shows. Research led from the University of Leeds, has shown that the number of children and young adults in England with a 'life limiting condition'* is far higher than had previously been thought and is increasing year on year. As numbers continue to rise, this will place a growing burden on paediatric palliative care providers and young adult services, particularly in deprived areas. The ...

Energy is a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States. Prior to deregulation, there was an energy monopoly which generally set the rates that consumers paid. Because of the lack of competition, it became very easy for a company to make tremendous profits at the expense of the consumer. When deregulation came into the picture, the energy industry opened its doors for competition in the marketplace - creating a win/win situation for the consumer. Ambit Energy is a leading energy provider supplying natural gas and electricity to residents in Texas, New York, Illinois, ...

Gemstone dealer with over 20 years' experience investigates the mysterious Mayan crystal skull. Wayne Sedawie, founder of Gemrockauctions.com, has been wholesaling and cut over a million gemstones and sold over 1000 crystal skulls and has an experienced understanding of all aspects of how a crystal skull could have been carved! With in-depth gemstone knowledge and practical experience he has researched and investigated the crystal skull mystery and used his experience from operating Gemstone cutting factories, Opal mining operations and International gemstone wholesale ...

Rhode Island Attorney, David Slepkow, was honored to be sworn into the Exclusive United States Supreme Court Bar. This honor is a culmination of 15 years of Legal excellence by RI Auto Accident and Family Law Lawyer, David Slepkow. David is also honored to receive a Superb rating by AVVO, an industry leading Legal Information provider. This is the highest rating that AVVO awards to attorneys. Rhode Island Personal Injury Attorney David also was rated 4.9 out of 5, Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell Client Review Rating. Martindale-Hubbell states the following on its ...

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– What if bacteria could talk to each other? What if they had a sense of touch? A new study by researchers at UC Santa Barbara suggests both, and theorizes that such cells may, in fact, need to communicate in order to perform certain functions. The findings appear today in the journal Genes & Development. Christopher Hayes, UCSB associate professor of molecular, cellular, and development biology, teamed with graduate students Elie Diner, Christina Beck, and Julia Webb to study uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC), which causes urinary tract infections ...

Indiana University biologists have found that specific types of RNA polymerase enzymes, the molecular machines that convert DNA into RNA, can differ in function based on variation in the parts -- in this case protein subunits -- used to assemble those machines. The new findings on the synthesis and function of different RNA polymerases (Pols), including two RNA polymerases that lead author Craig Pikaard discovered over a decade ago -- the plant-specific enzymes Pol IV and Pol V -- indicate that subunit composition of the polymerases plays a role in selecting how some ...

Treatment with vitamin D reduced the size of uterine fibroids in laboratory rats predisposed to developing the benign tumors, reported researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health. Uterine fibroids are the most common noncancerous tumors in women of childbearing age. Fibroids grow within and around the wall of the uterus. Thirty percent of women 25 to 44 years of age report fibroid-related symptoms, such as lower back pain, heavy vaginal bleeding or painful menstrual periods. Uterine fibroids also are associated with infertility and such pregnancy complications ...

For the last dozen years, scientists have known that minuscule strings of genetic material called small RNA are critically important to our genetic makeup. But finding out what they do hasn't been easy. Now a scientist from Michigan Technological University and his team have developed a way to turn off small RNAs and find out just how important they can be. When it comes to inheritance, DNA is just the half of it. What we are is also driven by the epigenetic world of RNA: the countless, twisting molecules that DNA churns out. RNA in turn transforms the amino acid soup ...

Researchers at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University have identified a new function for a gene that normally prevents the development of cancer. Scientists had known that the gene, which encodes a protein called p14 ARF, works inside the cell to control proliferation and division. A team led by Erwin Van Meir, PhD, discovered that p14 ARF also regulates tumor-induced angiogenesis, the process by which growing cancers attract new blood vessels. The findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, provide insight into how cancers form and progress, ...